Blanket and process of manufacturing blankets



Patented May 20, 1924.

UNITED STA ES PA 1 O FIC ROBERT AMORY, nrL'rom'iunssllofiusn'rrs,Asswiv'oa To 'NASHUA nalivnrno'run- I me COMPANY, OF NASHUA, NEWHAMJPSHIRE, A CQRIQRATION on NEW; HAMIP- SHIRE.

No Drawing.

trade as woolen blankets 'but which includea substantial percentage ofcotton. I

It is the general commercial practice to produce designs inblanketsentirelyby the weaving process, using yarns madeixfrom dyedcotton or wool or'yarns'which have been dyed in the yarn. "Designsconsisting essentially of checks and stripes are produced economicallyby "this process, but other designs involving irregular figures of anykind, such as the so-called Indian or floral designs, and infantsblankets bearing figures or rabbits, chickens,"k ittens, etc., mustbe'made through the use of the jacquard mechanism or dobby attachment.Consequently, such blankets-are much more expensive blankets tomanufacture.

It has always been considered impossible to print designso'nblankets'for the reason that the fabric has been considered ftooheavy to print' through and the"dup lex printing machine, which"prints"onfb'oth sides, is a very difficult, and expensive machine tooperate, besides being tremendously expensive to build in the size Ithat itqwould be necessary for a blanket. Furthermore,

it has been considered impossible to obtain a satisfactory registrationof the designby duplex printing ona blanket fabric due to the peculiarnature of this material." still further objection to the printing ofcotton blankets has been the obvious difficulty in making theprintingink penetrate the heavy blanket I fabric uniformly especiallywithout first giving the fabric some special treatment, such asbleachingfto-promote penetration. This treatment spolls the feel of theblanket and reduces the heat insulation value due to'the mattingoffibers.

BLANKET AND rnoonss or MnNUrAcrUnINe B ANKE'rs. Y

Application filed June 11, 1923. Serial in; 144,803.

Usually blankets are not given such treatment; the plain white blanketsbeing Woven in the gray, i. e;, from stock which has not been bleachedand which does not'present a pure White color: but has a creamy orgrayish tint. This color is entirely satis-,

factory for blankets although it would not be suitable vfor making othergoods. The

bleachingor other treatment of the fabric to facilitatepenetration of.the ink or color would further be objectionable because of theincreased-expense of manufacture and the additional equipment that wouldbe required. 1 l

1 It is the chief object of' the present invention todevise an entirelyractical process of manufacturing printed 'la'nkets. The invention alsoinvolves a nb-velblanket.

1 The nature of'the invention will be readily understood from thefollowingdescrip- -tion, and thenovel features will be-particul'arlypointed out in the appendedclai ms. Preliminary to adetailed descriptionof "the present process it should be noted that not be strong enough tostandthe process of weaving? Therefore, the characteristics of thecotton-blankets are determinedv largely by the natureof "the materialswhich is napped; the warp yarn being simply aframe work to hold thenapped filling together. In blankets:composedlargely of wool thewarpiyarn can be looselytwisted and, ow

ing" to the longer .fibers of' wool, be strong enough to stand' weavingso that the nap 7 occurs both on warpand filling.

No change whatever in theusualprocess of manufacturing 'a plain blanketis required by'the present invention up to the point of completion ofthe weaving operation.

"Usually" plain white/blanket fabric is woven, the stock of :which theblanket is made being unbleached or Thewebof blanket fabric,whileunnapped, is next printed on one side with the aid of anyconvenient "form of printing apparatus, the 1 design? being.applied,-'however,- 1 through in the gray.

5 After the printing 'operation'ahas the use of an' unusu allyl-argequantity v of ink .so*th at the ink'will penetrate vdeeply intothe fabric. This printing operation preferablyis performed in a rotarymachine Y sothat the" operation is continuous, the design being engravedon a roll to which ink is supplied in the usual manner, and the fabricbeing pressed against the engraved roll or printing roll by a suitablepressure roll. No change is requireddn the usual printing machines forthis purpose except that the mach.ines=-must =-be unusually large inorder' to handle fabric; of theregular blanket Width; the printing :rollmustbe equal in circumference to the lengthof a blanket if acompleteindividual design for each blanket: is required, and the engravingshould be cut'unusually deep so that a 'much greater quantity 'of ink:Wlll be applied to the goodsithan 'is usual in the ordinary printingprocesses. Thei'nk, of course. may be ofEany' suitable characterm 7 beencompleted the-fabric isdried and'the color 1s set in any usual orconvenient manner,

no change ini'tlie regular'printingpractice being re'quiredin thisrespectexceptthat a somewhat longer drying period. may-be necessarysince the fabric isyery' heavy.

'a After 'these operations 'havey'beenxcompletedthe ffabricpresentsa'very good appearance ony-the"printed sidef the design being 1clear and distinct, but the unprinted side presents an exceedinglyunsatisfactory appearance since the ink zdoes not-penetrate through totheda'tter side-evenly and; consequentl'y, this side of the goods has avery blotchy appearance. I have *foundyhowever, that:if the-priritedfabri'd'is how napp'ed on both sides; this'napping operation producesthe "surprising resultofdrawing through to? the unprinted side. of thefabric sufficient fibers which have: been' col- :ored-by the printingink to: reproduce the 'desi-gn clearlyfion this side :of' the goods.

Consequently, when; the napping operation has'been completed the blanketpresents sub- 'stantially the "same 'appear-ance f onboth iSlClS." I 9'i -rJa' This processthus -prod-uces a; blanket which isespleasing inappearance andqas "serviceable as blankets made by prior ,processes; butat a substantial reduction in manu facturing eXDense-QThis is=particularly true of figured designs, such as those hereiii'be-'forementioned." and which must be produc'ed according'to priorprocesses through the use of ajacquard mechanism or dobby' attachment.It isobvious that an endless'varie'ty of designs can be made according.to this process, and "that color-effects can'befiproduced a Whicliitwould be sveryftdilficultrfor Y impossible toi'o'btainbyweavingprocessesm' In the manufacture of'totton' blankets I have foundit preferable rto; maketheifilling :types are IIIHChISl'lOItGI instaple-than the American type while the Peruvian is long but has thesame curly-and harsh characteristics r 'Ij-fil'ld'llhtll] this Asiaticcotton has the property of" absorbinginkmore' readily than unnappdblanket fabricpin which-Asiatic cottonpredominates, is printedain the.manner .abovedescribed. the -i'iikfi'penetrates "ufell through? thefabric and a cleaner, cutdesign American cottons Consequently, when "an1 is'iproducedion the unprinted sidevot the blanket and much moresatisfac'tory"resul ts are obtained than when American -01" Egyptiancotton predominates lll bllGz'COIIlposition of the blanket. t

I have found that. the printing be'cut much more deeply so asvtohold avery great amount of inkbec'arise the soft twist Asiatic cotton absorbs;the ink so readily It is entirely feasible' however to manufactureblankets according to this proci essfrom .the Americantype of cotton.

' Ihavewfound it entirely practical to manufacture'blanltets on acommercial scale by the process above described, andqto produce goodswhich please-the'trada The; design on one side of the blanket mustregister accurately with. that on the other side dueto .the fact thattheblanket is printed originally on one 'sidewonly, the design-"then beingrolls can Q-ii reproduced 7 on 'the other side fbydfawing throughcolored fibers .to the unprinted side in the napping" of-the goodsf-Results which have heretofore been considered utterly impossibleby anyprintingv process'thus are rprod'ucedby. the process above described,

andthe blankets compare very favorably in every respect with those whichcouldbe produced heretofore -only' through the use .of jacquardmechanisms. blanket fabric'or;

Eblanketingis sometimes used. for otherpurposes thanrforsbla'nkets, butthe particular use-made of the fabric-is immaterial so fair astheipresent invention is concerned'and such fabrics are hereindesignated as blankets.-

Having thus described my That improveme'nt'i'n'the' process ofinanu'facturi'ng :blankets gWl'l'lClI consists in weaving a blanketfabric, printing a design 011'? one" side onlyof saidwfabricfibefore theoppositesi'ol'e ofs'aid fabric has been napped,

applying sufficient quantityof: ink to-the fabricin-performing saidprinting operation .t0- .cau$ the ink; toi p n ra h fa rict ainvention,What such a depth that upon napping the fabric on the unprinted side,fibers colored by the ink will be drawn through to the unprinted side insuch abundance as to reproduce the design clearly on said unprintedside, and subsequently napping the printed fabric on 7 said unprintedside.

2. That improvement in the process of manufacturing blankets whichconsists in weaving a plain blanket fabric in the usual.

4 forming said printing operation to cause the ink to penetrate thefabric to such a depth that upon subsequently napping'the fabric on theunprinted side, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn through to theunprinted side in such abundance as to reproduce the design clearlyon'the unprinted side, and subsequently napping the printed fabric onboth sides. 7 i

3; That improvement in the process of manufacturing cotton blanketswhich consists in weaving a blanket fabric from a stock, the greaterpart of which consists of Asiatic cotton, printing a design on one sideonly of said fabric, applying a sufficientquantity of ink to the fabricin performing said printing operation to cause the ink to penetrate thefabric to such a depth that upon napping the fabric on the unprintedside, fibers colored by the ink will be drawn throughto the unprintedside in such abundance as to reproduce the design clearly on saidunprinted side, and subsequently nap,

ping the printed fabric on both sides.

4:. That improvement in the process of manufacturing blankets whichconsists in weaving a blanket fabric, printing a design on one side onlyof said fabric, performing said printing operation continuously,applying a sufiicient quantity of ink to the fabric in performing saidprinting operation to cause the ink to penetrate the fabric to such adepth that upon napping the fabric on the unprinted side, fibers coloredby the ink will be drawn through to said unprinted side in suchabundance as to reproduce the design ,1

clearly on said unprinted side, drying the fabric after'it has beenprinted, and then napping the printed fabric on both sides.

5. A blanket consisting of a heavy napped fabric bearing a designprinted on one side thereof only but reproduced on the opposite side ofthe blanket by fibers of the nap colored during the printing of thefirst side and drawn through to the unprinted surface of the fabric. 7

6. A cotton blanket consisting of a heavy woven fabric, the filling ofwhich consists mainly of Asiatic cotton, said fabric being napped onboth sides and having a design printed on one side only thereof, saiddesign being reproducedon the unprinted side by fibers of the nap whichhave been colored by the printing ink and drawn through to the unprintedside of the fabric.

ROBERT AMORY.

